Human Rights Watch says security forces and pro-government armed groups killed 23 protesters following Maduro's victory.
Venezuelan security forces and pro-government armed groups committed widespread abuses following a disputed presidential election in July, an international rights group said.
The National Guard, police forces and armed groups known as “colectivos” killed 23 protesters during post-election protests on July 28, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report on the post-election crackdown on Wednesday.
Thousands of people, including minors, took to the streets across Venezuela hours after electoral authorities loyal to the ruling party declared President Nicolas Maduro the winner of an election the opposition has called stolen.
Maduro and his allies in the United Socialist Party responded in full force, carrying out arbitrary arrests, prosecutions and a campaign – dubbed Operation Tun Tun or Operation Toc Toc – encouraging people to denounce relatives, neighbours and other acquaintances who participated in the protests or questioned the results.
“The repression we are seeing in Venezuela is shockingly brutal,” said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at HRW. “The affected governments must take urgent measures to ensure that people can protest peacefully and that their vote is respected.”
The group said it had received “credible” evidence of the killings of 23 protesters and a member of the Bolivarian National Guard from “independent local groups” including Foro Penal, Justicia Encuentro y Perdón, Monitor de Víctimas and Provea.
Most of the murders occurred on July 29 and 30.
Eleven of the cases were “independently documented” by HRW, which said it reviewed death certificates, verified videos and photographs, and conducted interviews with 20 witnesses and local sources. It consulted forensic pathologists and weapons experts, who analyzed the injuries and weapons seen and heard.
Among the murders detailed in the report is that of civil engineer and Rances food truck worker Daniel Yzarra Bolívar, who was shot in the chest.
The report also included details of mass arrests during the protests. Venezuelan authorities have said more than 2,400 people have been arrested since July 29, including children, journalists, political leaders, campaign members and a lawyer defending protesters. One local activist livestreamed her arrest by military intelligence agents when they broke into her home with a crowbar.
Local group Foro Penal reported that 114 children had been arrested and at least 86 had been released, some of whom had to appear regularly in court.
HRW said those arrested were often held incommunicado for weeks and most were denied the right to hire a lawyer.
Global condemnation
The National Electoral Council declared that Maduro had been re-elected for a third six-year term, refusing to publish vote counts supporting his victory.
But the main opposition coalition obtained vote counts from more than 80 percent of electronic voting machines and said its candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, defeated Maduro by a 2-to-1 margin.
The lack of transparency in the results, coupled with arrests following anti-government protests, has sparked global condemnation of Maduro and his allies. Criticism grew on Monday after a judge approved a prosecutor's request for an arrest warrant against Gonzalez.
The United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries have refused to recognize Maduro's victory without seeing a detailed breakdown of the votes cast.
